Football season is now underway in Rockingham County!
The Reidsville Rams kicked off their season on Friday night with a game against Western Alamance, while the Morehead Panthers traveled to Burlington for a matchup with the Cummings Cavaliers. Also, the Rockingham County Cougars went fourteen miles west to continue their cross-county rivalry opening night tradition with the McMichael Phoenix, with McMichael trying to break that losing streak against them that has dated back to 2016.
Heading into tonight’s games, each team was facing some uncertainty. All four changed their QB1, two teams changed their head coaches, and Reidsville lost the MaxPreps National Athlete of the Year, Kendre Harrison.
First, let’s get to the twenty-three time and reigning 2A Champions, the Reidsville Rams. The navy and gold took on Western Alamance in Elon, and racked up twenty-eight points while only allowing the Warriors to get a field goal. The 28-3 victory is a great start for a team with more question marks around their roster than in recent memory, and now they get to move on to a contest with the Page Pirates. Reidsville’s first win was an away game against a bigger school, and if they want to improve to 2-0, they will have to do the same thing again.
McMichael and Rockingham’s game was one of the most entertaining football games I have watched at any level. The first half was pure defense and pure pandemonium, starting with a quick McMichael drive into Rockingham territory before they fumbled it. Rockingham punted, but McMichael fumbled once again on their next drive. Then, with the Cougars inside the one yard line with a first down, they were stopped at the goal line back to back times! McMichael then punched the ball out and recovered it at the one, showcasing spectacular defense! However, they were so far backed up in their own territory when they got the ball that the last play of the first quarter was a safety.
McMichael then put six points on the scoreboard thanks to a pass from Kai Tart falling right into the breadbasket of an open man running a fly route. However, in the second half, the Phoenix simply ran out of gas, and Rockingham scored three touchdowns to put some separation between themselves and McMichael. The final score was 22-12 in favor of 3A Rockingham, but both teams could walk away with their heads high, as they left it all out there on the field. At the high school level, sometimes out-willing the other team can give you a win or two, and I expect the determination of both of these teams to aide them as the season goes on. Rockingham extends their opening game winning streak over McMichael that has lasted since 2016.
The Morehead Panthers showed some improvement from last year in their game against Cummings, holding a 7-6 lead at the half. However, they weren’t able to hold on in the final two quarters, as penalties came back to bite them. They lost, 18-7, but the team remains optimistic and looks forward to the rest of the season.
This was an exceptionally enjoyable night of football. Most teams performed better than expected, and if you’re like me, with no specific ties to any one school, you feel good about the fact that all of these Rockingham County Schools exceeded expectations.
Next week, Reidsville and Page do battle in Greensboro, while Wentworth’s silver-and-black, Rockingham, participates in another cross-county rivalry match with Eden’s red-and-black, Morehead. Also, McMichael will be playing on turf for their first time this season when they try to take down the Forbush Falcons and score their first win of the season.
I’ll be back next Saturday recapping the August 30th slate. Good luck to all of these teams, who did their schools proud tonight with the amount of effort they put in.